What compensated confiscation actually is
Compensated confiscation is an administrative penalty aimed at a thing rather than at a sum of money. Under Article 28 of the Administrative Offences Code of Georgia it applies to an item that was the instrument used to commit an administrative offence, the direct object of that offence, an object of a violation of Georgian customs legislation, or a means of transporting and delivering goods. Two stages are built into the definition itself: the item is taken by force, and it is then sold. The money the sale brings in is handed to the former owner, with the costs connected to selling the confiscated item deducted from it. You lose the item, but not the whole of its value.
What Article 28 provides
Article 28 does three things. It defines the penalty as compulsory taking followed by sale and payment of the net proceeds to the former owner. It carves out one category completely: firearms and ammunition cannot be taken under this penalty from a person for whom hunting is the principal source of subsistence. And it refers the rest onward — the Code states that the rules for applying compensated confiscation and the types of items subject to it are established by Georgian legislation. In practice the third point matters as much as the first two: the decision issued against you rests on a specific rule outside Article 28, and a challenge usually begins there.
How the decision is enforced — Article 294
Article 294 governs execution. Items taken under a decision on compensated confiscation are handed over for sale by the body or the official that issued the decision, and they go either to a commission shop or to state or cooperative trade shops specially designated for that purpose, chosen according to where the property to be confiscated is located. Firearms and ammunition follow a separate route: a decision on their compensated confiscation is executed by the internal affairs bodies. The money obtained from the sale is passed to the former owner in accordance with Article 28, minus the expenses incurred in selling the item. Article 294 also allows Georgian legislation to establish a different procedure for executing such decisions, so in an individual case it is always worth checking whether a special regime applies to the category of goods involved.
The hunting exception, and why timing decides it
The protection for hunters in Article 28 is unconditional in its wording, but it is not self-executing. Nobody in the process establishes on your behalf that hunting is your principal source of subsistence; you have to raise it and support it while the case is still being decided. Once the item has been handed to a shop and sold, the argument has lost most of its practical force — what remains is a dispute about money rather than about the firearm itself.
Where these cases are contested, and what to prepare
Two questions decide most of them. The first is whether the item really was the instrument or the direct object of the offence, or the means of transporting and delivering the goods. A vehicle present at the scene is not automatically the instrument of what happened there; whether that connection exists is a question of fact in the particular case, and the description of the item in the decision is the place to start reading. The second question is ownership. If the item belongs to somebody other than the person penalised — a leasing company, an employer, a family member — that person's position is a separate matter and has to be raised separately, with documents.
A lawyer changes the picture at two distinct stages. While the case is being heard, the argument is about whether this penalty may be applied to this item at all. After the decision, the work moves to enforcement: whether the Article 294 procedure was followed, where the item was actually delivered, how the sale costs were calculated, and whether the net proceeds ever reached you as the former owner. The second stage is the one people most often neglect, and it is where value is lost quietly rather than by a ruling.
A first meeting needs the decision itself and the documents that describe the item, its value and its owner; the fuller that set, the sooner it is clear which question — the taking of the item, or the calculation of the sum — is worth pursuing:
- the administrative offence protocol and the full text of the decision;
- documents showing who owns the item — contract, invoice, registration data, lease or loan papers;
- anything establishing the item's value before it was taken;
- the record of the seizure itself, and any handover act signed at the time;
- evidence that hunting is your principal source of subsistence, if the case concerns a firearm.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does compensated confiscation mean the item is simply lost?
No. Article 28 provides for taking followed by sale, and the proceeds go to the former owner less the sale costs. The item is lost, not its whole value.
Who sells the confiscated item, and where?
Under Article 294 the body that issued the decision hands the item to a commission shop or specially designated state or cooperative trade shops; firearms and ammunition are executed by the internal affairs bodies.
Can a hunter’s rifle be taken this way?
No, not from a person for whom hunting is the principal source of subsistence — Article 28 prohibits it outright. The exception must be evidenced while the case is being heard.
How We Help on Legal.ge
The lawyers of Legal.ge work these cases on both tracks: whether the penalty lawfully applies to the item, and how Article 294 was enforced — where it went, how the costs were calculated, whether the net sum reached the owner. Contact us, and the outcome becomes measurable.